It's believed a taser may have been used during the assault

It was reported the suspect pinned the man to the ground before punching him and then fleeing on foot.

The man was treated at the scene at the scene by staff from the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service.

The suspect is described as being of a heavy build, with black hair and thought to be aged in his late twenties.

He is reported to have worn a red Adidas tracksuit top that was zipped with a white hood underneath, black tracksuit bottoms with white stripes down the side and white trainers.

Police believe the attack, which they describe as "extremely distressing", may be linked to a robbery in the city in the early hours of this morning.

At 00.30am two men entered a shop on North Queen Street , one of whom was armed with what was described as a Taser stun gun.

They threatened a member of staff before fleeing with a sum of money.

The staff member was physically uninjured, but has been left shocked by whats described as "a traumatic ordeal."

One of the suspects is described as being tall and wore a red and white Adidas jacket, green shorts, white trainers and had his head and face covered.

The second suspect is described as wearing a blue/green-coloured jacket with white stripes on the sleeves, grey knee-length shorts and had his face covered.

Police believe these two incidents may be linked and want to appeal to anyone who has information about either of them and which may assist with the investigation, or who witnessed either incident to call detectives at Musgrave on the non emergency number 101, quoting reference number 38 of 28/04/19 or 1044 of 27/04/19.